Consumers Win as Verizon Brings TV Choice, Competition to 129,000 More Homes in Southern California

Consumers in 129,000 households in 12 Southern California cities - including Long Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Monica and Chino - will immediately reap the benefits of video choice as Verizon significantly expands its industry-leading FiOS television service throughout the region.

“This is great news for Californians, who’ve waited far too long for true competition and a superior choice of television service for the home,” said Tim McCallion, Verizon West region president. “Thanks to the state’s new streamlined video franchising law, Verizon is able to accelerate deployment of its FiOS TV service and offer consumers something they’ve never had before: incredible picture-and-sound clarity and innovative new services - all from a brand they know and trust.”

Other California cities where FiOS TV is now available are: Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Lakewood, Montclair, Pomona, Stanton, Torrance, Westminster and many unincorporated areas of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

Today’s expansion brings the total number of homes that have access to FiOS TV in Southern California to 350,000. Verizon plans to offer the service to more than 500,000 homes by the end of 2007. [A complete list of Southern California cities served with FiOS TV appears at the end of this release.]

“We’re looking forward to quickly offering consumers in Southern California the communication industry’s best product in home entertainment,” said Kathy Koelle, general manager for Verizon’s West Coast region. “We’re delivering a service that customers are demanding and no other company can match. FiOS TV provides a superior television service with more channels, more choice and more value, delivered on an all-fiber, next-generation network. Customers will be even more delighted when we add more interactive features, such as our new interactive media guide, which take television viewing to a new level.”

Verizon is providing FiOS TV and FiOS Internet services on the nation’s most advanced digital, all-fiber-optic network straight to customers’ homes. Only Verizon’s FiOS network has earned the certification of the independent Fiber to the Home Council for providing fiber all the way to customers’ homes.

Today’s rapid expansion of service was made possible by California’s new streamlined video franchising law. Verizon’s franchise, issued by the California Public Utilities Commission earlier this month, allows the company to offer FiOS TV service in 32 other communities throughout Southern California. Verizon will announce FiOS TV availability in the additional communities in the coming months as it completes construction of its fiber-optic network in those areas.

Verizon contacts consumers when FiOS television service is available in their neighborhood. Consumers can visit www.verizonfios.com or call 1-877-707-7066 to find out if FiOS TV is available at their home.

Service Highlights

FiOS TV offers a better-quality picture, more high-definition and on-demand programs, and more reliable service at competitive prices than its competitors. Verizon’s FiOS TV Premier package delivers more than 200 all-digital channels, including a diverse array of multicultural programming, for $42.99 per month. In California, the package includes 21 high-definition (HD) channels, and five more HD channels are available with premium movie subscriptions. Verizon offers a video-on-demand library of 8,600 titles, and 60 percent of those selections are available without an additional charge.

FiOS TV features entertainment in a variety of languages in addition to its English-language programming. Spanish-speaking viewers can choose La Conexion, a package of 140 popular English and Spanish-language channels for $32.99 per month, or a Spanish-language package for $11.99 per month. Verizon also offers 17 international premium channels in languages such as Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.

Verizon offers innovative features not available from other providers, such as Home Media DVR (digital video recorder) and FiOS TV Widgets. Home Media DVR, at $19.99 per month, allows the family to use one DVR to access recorded programming from multiple rooms in the house. Customers also can access photos and music on their PCs and play them on their TV. FiOS TV Widgets is a free interactive feature that provides viewers with local weather and traffic information while they’re watching their favorite shows.

Verizon’s network brings the power and capacity of fiber optics directly into people’s homes and has industry-leading quality and reliability. It also delivers Internet download speeds ranging from 5 Mbps to 30 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds ranging up to 5 Mbps, as well as high-quality voice service.*

* NOTE: actual (throughput) speeds will vary.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America’s most reliable wireless network, serving more than 59 million customers nationwide. Verizon’s Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which operates one of the most expansive wholly owned global IP networks, and Verizon Telecom, which is deploying the nation’s most advanced fiber-optic network to deliver the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services to customers. A Dow 30 company, Verizon has a diverse workforce of approximately 242,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $88 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.